View full sizeThis was the scene Tuesday morning on the top of the parking garage at Northeast Seventh Avenue and Lloyd Boulevard where police shot and killed Santiago Cisneros III the night before. Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian

Two North Precinct cops were enjoying some down time from their Monday night patrol, chatting as they were parked car to car on the top level of an empty parking garage, when a dark BMW sedan pulled up behind one of their cruisers.

No one got out. No move to seek help or ask for directions.

Wondering what was up, the officers decided that one of the patrol cars would swing around and aim a spotlight at the mysterious car. That's when Santiago A. Cisneros III stepped out of the driver's side of his BMW.

An officer got out to see what Cisneros wanted. Cisneros walked to the back of his car, lifted the trunk and pulled out a shotgun. He aimed it at the officers and ran after one, sources familiar with the investigation told The Oregonian on Wednesday.

Just before gunshots erupted, Cisneros had talked to his mother on his cellphone and told her he was going to kill some cops and then would be going to a better place, one of the sources said.

Investigators are trying to piece together what drew Cisneros to the Northeast Portland parking garage late that night: Had he been following the patrol cars? Did he know they were parked on the upper story of the garage?

"It sure sounds like suicide by cop to me. It's evident he wanted to die," said John Violanti, an associate professor at SUNY University at Buffalo's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine who served 23 years as a New York State Police trooper.

In this case, officers had no choice but to defend themselves, said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI chief hostage negotiator and supervisor in the bureau's Behavioral Science Unit during his 25-year career with the agency.

"Cops get ambushed all over this country. Cops don't like cars coming up behind them and just sitting. Your professional paranoia knows that's just not good," Van Zandt said. "The hair would have been standing up on the back of my neck."

Van Zandt said Cisneros must have known what would occur when he pointed the shotgun at police.

"Anybody who confronts a cop -- especially someone with a military background -- knows police have guns, they're trained to use them. If you point and shoot at a cop, they will bring him down," Van Zandt said.

Cisneros was a U.S. Army veteran who served from May 2002 through May 2005, and was a vehicle mechanic during Operation Iraqi Freedom. When he returned, family friends said he battled depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

View full sizeSantiago A. Cisneros III, who served in the U.S. Army from May 2002 through May 2005.Courtesy of Cisneros family

In May 2009, he told a Seattle TV station that he tried to kill himself eight months after he returned from Iraq and finally found help through the Veterans Affairs administration and the National Center for PTSD.

"I've started to build a foundation of hope and humanity again," Cisneros told the TV reporter.

But Cisneros' violent death suggests that post-traumatic stress can last a long time, even with treatment, said Belle Landau, executive director of Oregon's Returning Veterans Project. The project connects veterans and their families to free counseling and health services.

Family friend Scott Isler of Portland said Cisneros would talk about his efforts to treat his stress and anxiety. Cisneros had shared a house with his sister in Portland about two years ago.

"He was an incredibly sweet and kind and gentle guy when he was on his meds," Isler said. "When he was off his meds, he was different. He was very upfront about the fact he's got these anxiety issues. He'd say, 'I feel like something is burning up inside of me, and I want to scratch my skin to get it out of me.'"

Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, noted after the shooting that officers face dangerous circumstances every day and called Monday's confrontation a tragedy. It was the second time in 15 days that police shot and killed someone who threatened them without provocation.

"We are relieved that the two officers involved in the incident (Monday) night are safe," Turner said.

Officers Bradley J. Kula, 38, and Michele Boer, 27, are on paid administrative leave and are expected to be interviewed today. The investigation will be presented to a Multnomah County grand jury for review.

Police haven't said how many shots Cisneros fired or released other details.

Van Zandt said the confrontation ended with no winners.

"Here you have a situation where everybody is a victim,' he said. "The man killed is a victim of life, post-traumatic stress. These two officers are victims of knowing this guy probably used them and did everything to provoke this kind of response, an officer's worst nightmare." -- Maxine Bernstein;